KurzweilAI » Kurzweil Projects & CompaniesAccelerating Intelligence2015-03-03T19:01:55Zhttp://www.kurzweilai.net/feed/atomWordPresshttp://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2434762015-01-30T23:08:27Z2015-01-30T20:33:09ZSingularity University, the technology focused education institute and global business accelerator has announced a new multi-million dollar agreement with Google aimed at breaking down barriers to technology innovation by creating opportunities for a more diverse group of entrepreneurs from around the world.

Through the agreement, Google will provide $1.5 million annually for the next two years to help fund qualified and selected candidates to Singularity University’s (SU) flagship Graduate Studies Program.

The Graduate Studies Program (GSP) is a ten week immersive experience that educates and empowers the best minds to use exponential technologies to solve the world’s greatest challenges.

While SU’s sponsored Global Impact Competitions winners will continue to comprise a substantial portion of the GSP class, the new Google funding will enable SU to also make the remaining seats in the program available free of charge to direct applicants.

GSP participants are engaged in nine tracks of exponential technology development and mentored by leaders and investors in the technology sector with the focus of abating poverty and creating innovative solutions in the areas of clean energy, water, education, security and healthcare.

Applications are now open for the 2015 Graduate Studies Program through SU’s direct admission online.

“The new agreement with Google is an incredibly important pillar in our efforts to increase global access and diversity for qualified candidates, regardless of their ability to pay,” said Rob Nail, CEO and Associate Founder of Singularity University.

“As a graduate of an SU program, I can speak first hand to the life changing experience SU offers in inspiring thinking about how technology can improve the lives of billions. Google’s support will further help to break down barriers of access to the Silicon Valley network of technologists, business leaders, and investors,” Rob Nail said.

Google has long understood the importance of breaking down barriers to be active participants in the creation of technology.

“At Google, we believe in the power of access, and we work with organizations to create broad and diverse communities to be change agents,” said Mo Yun Fong, Director of Google’s education outreach programs.

(credit: Singularity University)

related viewing from Google:

Google | What does it mean for a classroom or school to go Google. Learn all about Chromebooks, Google Apps for Education and Tablets with Google Play for Education and how together these powerful tools can transform teaching and learning.

The Graduate Studies Program convenes future leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world in a ten week collaborative experience to develop team based technology solutions to widespread global challenges. During the GSP, participants are challenged to design a sustainable global solution to positively impact one billion people by leveraging exponential trends, innovation, and the power of entrepreneurship.

Bibak, a team of women from Graduate Studies Program 2014, made a pledge to ensure that every person living in a post conflict area should live a life free from the ever present fear of landmines. This team, with members from Italy, Australia and Peru created the Bibak podtector, an effective and inexpensive landmine detector that can be assembled on site and delivered in a way that is sustainable, coordinated, and community led.

When we think of the fragility of ecosystems, we often think of the decline of fish stocks or large predators, but it is the decline of the lowly bee that could have the greatest impact on humankind with the total number of managed honey bee colonies now decimated from 5 million in the 1940s to less than 2.5 million today. A Graduate Studies Program 2013 team project created a smart beehive monitoring system with real time optimization of hive conditions, thus reducing the risk of colony failure.

Matternet, a team project from Graduate Studies Program 2011, had the vision to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to ferry medicine and other goods to remote places, such as rural villages in Africa where people often have to walk 20 miles or more to a clinic to receive treatments as simple as blood tests or pills. With Matternet, UAVs will carry the payloads for a substantially lower cost than ground transportation.

Priv Bradoo first considered the idea of extracting valuable metals — copper, silver, platinum, etc. — from discarded electronics (e-waste) at Graduate Studies Program 2009. Since then, the company has grown exponentially and now uses existing scaled up mining industry technologies to capture value from the 40 million tons of e-waste that is landfilled or incinerated annually around the world, containing 70 billion dollars worth of precious and base metals.

Miroculus, a team project, has brought to life an accurate, easy to use, non-invasive, decentralized, operator independent and affordable microRNA detection platform for molecular data gathering, analysis and interpretation.

About Singularity University

Singularity University’s mission is to educate, inspire and empower a generation of leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges. Since 2009, SU has hosted entrepreneurs, industry leaders and government officials from more than 85 countries and has prepared both individuals and organizations for exponential technology changes through a series of events, conferences and education programs. SU’s founding corporate partners include Genentech, Autodesk, Cisco, ePlanet Ventures, Google, Kauffman Foundation and Nokia.

related viewing from Singularity University:

Singularity University | Humanity has entered an era of rapidly accelerated change. Singularity University offers programs and conferences that teach businesses and individuals how to deal with this rapid change. Don’t be left behind. Turn rapid technological change into an opportunity, use it to solve the world’s biggest problems

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2366292014-09-23T14:16:43Z2014-09-22T19:05:53ZThe National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s leading advocate for access to print by the blind, has applauded the release of KNFB Reader, a new app for the iPhone and other Apple iOS devices, which uses the phone’s camera and state of the art optical character recognition (OCR) technology to give the blind instant access to the contents of print materials.

Members of the National Federation of the Blind have worked with KNFB Reading Technology, which developed the app along with Sensotec, KNFB Reader is now available in the Apple iTunes app store.

Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The National Federation of the Blind has been involved for forty years in the development of technology that helps blind people to acquire access to the various print materials that we all encounter from day to day.

“Ever since our first collaboration with Ray Kurzweil to develop the Kurzweil Reading Machine, which was the size of a household appliance, we have been interested in the development of better and more portable reading technology.

“Print on office documents, flyers, letters, menus, labels, and throughout our environment is still a part of everyday life, even with the increased electronic transmission of documents. Now revolutionary technology that resides on the phones that many of us carry each day provides instant access to the printed word.

“We can hear our mail or the menu at our favorite restaurant spoken with the iPhone’s built in text-to-speech technology, or read it in braille with a refreshable braille display. This app will fundamentally change the everyday lives of many blind people, helping us to get the information we need and live the lives we want.”

(credit: KNFB Reading Technology)

related viewing from the National Federation of the Blind:

National Federation of the Blind | Snap pictures, listen to printed text read aloud, store and share documents and more using the KNFB Reader iPhone app.

The KNFB Reader app for iPhone is available in the Apple iTunes app store.

Singularity U was founded in 2008, Diamandis said, with a mission of inspiring students, entrepreneurs and executives to create companies that have an impact on a billion people positively within 10 years.

The name Singularity U was taken from a term that Ray Kurzweil used to describe the point at which computer intelligence surpasses human intelligence.

The unaccredited university holds a 10-week graduate level summer course for 80 participants, and this summer is running a five-week pilot program for high school students. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2220922014-04-29T14:55:57Z2014-02-26T22:59:35ZExponential Finance will take place June 10-11, 2014, in New York.

The event will bring together top business leaders and government officials with the next generation of entrepreneurs to engage in dynamic and forward-thinking discussions on the exponential technologies that are creating the next greatest wave of transition in industry, business and finance.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2191942014-01-29T01:34:13Z2014-01-29T01:32:44ZSU was started in 2008 by X Prize founder Peter Diamandis and Google director of engineering Ray Kurzweil. It has grown to encompass educational programs aimed at executives and graduate students and the accelerator.

Getaround, Made in Space and Modern Meadow are among the participating startups. It also has a new program that pairs its startups with established companies like Lowe’s, Coca-Cola, Unicef and Hershey’s. Miller said said that while the accelerator currently only accepts companies associated with its alumni, it plans to begin accepting outsiders in six to nine months. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2071292013-11-09T08:38:19Z2013-09-16T17:28:59ZSingularity University doesn’t have a big staff or a long history. It was founded in 2009 by two successful entrepreneurs, Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, with the vision of using disruptive technologies to positively impact a billion people within a decade.

They are motivated to explore the potential of rapidly advancing technologies to take on humanity’s big challenges, such as water scarcity and energy consumption. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=2051862015-01-30T22:18:34Z2013-08-27T23:21:34ZI run across two types of people. I’ve been thinking about what distinguishes these two groups, what causes a person to be in one group or the other.

One group accepts problems. Problems are just the way things are. We need to learn to accept problems.

The purpose of life, for example, is to accept death, to become comfortable with it — after all it’s the natural way.

This group is pessimistic about problems. Problems are just going to get worse. They find a lot of evidence for this perspective. Now this view makes perfect sense, because they don’t plan to do anything about the problems anyway. And they don’t think they would succeed if they tried. So why try?

And if you do try to solve a problem and your plan fails, then this is a dishonor, a disgrace, a humiliation. It is shameful. As bad as the world is, you just made it worse by wasting time and resources.

Then there’s the other group. The second group does not accept problems. The goal of life is to conquer them, to surmount limitations, natural or otherwise, to defeat ignorance, to overcome suffering — of people, animals, the Earth.

This group is optimistic and realizes that optimism is not an idle prediction about the future but a self-fulfilling prophecy. This group believes in the power of human ideas to create the world we want — virtual worlds and real worlds.

This group is not afraid of failure. They believe in its value. It simply means experience. Failure is just success deferred. This group is patient with failure and impatient with problems and limitations.

So what accounts for whether a person is in the first group or the second group? I’ve really been thinking about this question and have not come up with an answer. If you think of one, please let me know.

I believe it has something to do with being open minded to new ideas, leaving enough space in your neocortex for new perspectives, not being overly attached to what you’ve learned and to the common wisdom, not being afraid of the disapproval of your peers.

Einstein’s thought experiments defied both, but he stuck with the conclusions he reached despite early ridicule.

But I do know where to find the second group and that is right here at Singularity University. This year’s class has been exemplary in demonstrating a belief in the power of human thinking — and action — to overcome any and all problems. It has been a thrill to meet all of you this summer and to get to know you, and I hope to continue collaborating with you in the years ahead.

Congratulations to all of you! Please stay part of the SU community and of the second group who believe in the future. I especially look forward to seeing and experiencing all of your projects change the world.

]]>2http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1970172013-08-28T00:48:04Z2013-06-13T17:59:11ZPlease join Singularity University in welcoming the new 2013 Graduate Studies Program students!

The class of 2013 are some of the best and brightest from around the world and this summer will forever alter the course of their lives. View the current roster of students here, and meet the new class in person June 17th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California!

For 10 weeks this summer, 80 graduate and post-graduate level innovators, researchers, NGO leaders, and entrepreneurs from 36 countries will come to Singularity University (SU) in Silicon Valley to change our world. As participants in the 2013 Graduate Studies Program (GSP13), they will be immersed in an unparalleled learning environment focused on identifying and using rapidly accelerating technologies to find solutions focused on humanity’s Grand Challenges: Energy, Food, Water, Environment, Security, Poverty, Global Health, and Education. At the end of the 10-week program, SU student teams will develop 10⁹+ Team Projects with the mission of positively impacting the lives of a billion people in the next 10 years.

Singularity University’s GSP program brings together a diverse group of the most accomplished experts in academics, science, technology, business, and government with the top graduate and post-graduate level innovators, researchers, NGO and entrepreneurial leaders from around the globe. GSP13 begins June 16 and runs through August 26, at Singularity University’s campus at NASA Research Park, Moffett Field, CA.

previous Singularity University Opening Ceremonies:

Singularity University Opening Ceremonies 2010

Singularity University Opening Ceremonies 2012

Singularity University Opening Ceremonies 2013

]]>1http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1942562013-05-23T11:34:00Z2013-05-23T11:28:24ZLike high-schoolers yearning for Harvard, many startups aspire to be accepted to a top accelerator program such as Y Combinator or TechStars. But what if you aim not to build the next Facebook but to solve pressing global problems?

That’s the core criterion for admission to SU Labs. “We’re not going to take a company that might make a nice return but has no value in terms of what we call humanity’s grand challenges,” explains Gabriel Baldinucci, SU Labs’ VP of strategy.

SU Labs is an outgrowth of Silicon Valley’s Singularity University, created in 2009 by X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis and artificial intelligence guru and Google engineering director Ray Kurzweil. The school specializes in teaching how to build businesses in a world where technology is changing at an exponential rate. [...]

“All of the structures that we use to run the world today — our civics, our politics, our legal systems, healthcare, education — are all structured for a world 100 or 200 years ago, not for the world of today. So we think we’re in for a lot of disruption,” says Salim Ismail, founding director of Singularity University.

ReasonTV’s Tracy Oppenheimer caught up with Salim at the 2013 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, CA to discuss crowd funding, the next steps in technological expansion, and how we’ve entered the age of an information-based environment. “It’s happening across industries. The first few were newspapers, music, and electronic publishing. Those were the first three domains to be fully information-enabled. Now were moving to cars being information-enabled,” says Salim, “we’re turning everything in to a computational basis.”

According to an SU statement, the acquisition furthers SU’s founding goal to provide the tools and thinking necessary to solve humanity’s greatest challenges, while SI transitions to a more research-focused organization. It also enables SU to broaden its global offerings to include an expanded Summit, designed around the tracks of study currently offered at SU: AI and Robotics, Energy & Environmental Systems; Biotechnology and Bioinformatics; Medicine & Neuroscience; Networks and Computing, Nanotechnology, Entrepreneurship, and Design.

“The mission of Singularity University is to equip leaders with awareness about the disruptive implications and opportunities of accelerating technologies and to help empower them to become high-impact innovators,” said CEO Rob Nail.

“Our acquisition of the Singularity Summit will be a valuable asset as we continue to enrich our educational content and innovation pipeline, and expand our global network. We are also proud to support ongoing serious research on the implications of AI, for which SI is well respected.”

The Singularity Summit was founded in 2006 by Ray Kurzweil, also a cofounder of Singularity University and its current Chancellor, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and a leading thinker and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

The Singularity Institute is one of the world’s leading research institutes devoted to studying the societal consequences of advanced Artificial Intelligence. The organization promotes awareness of the potential consequences of advanced artificial intelligence, both positive and negative, and funds technical research intended to ensure that the creation of advanced artificial intelligence has a positive outcome.

Singularity University’s mission is to assemble, educate, and inspire a new generation of leaders in business, science, finance, and government who strive to understand and use exponentially advancing technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges. Since 2009, SU has hosted students and industry leaders from more than 70 countries at its campus at NASA Research Park, Moffett Field, CA. Corporate Partners include Autodesk, Cisco, Credit Union Roundtable, ePlanet Ventures, GE, Genentech, Google, Intelius, Kauffman Foundation, Nokia, Steelcase, and Triple Ring Technologies.

Exponential Medicine at Singularity University is a one-of-a-kind program that focuses on disruptive, game-changing exponential technologies that will revolutionize the practice of medicine and radically transform healthcare and the biomedical industry in the decade ahead.

Exponential Medicine at Singularity University is a one-of-a-kind program that focuses on disruptive, game-changing exponential technologies that will revolutionize the practice of medicine and radically transform healthcare and the biomedical industry in the decade ahead.

The next Exponential Medicine is scheduled for February 4-9th, 2013. It is widely acclaimed as the premiere interactive program for physicians, healthcare executives, innovators and investors who want to dive into the future of medicine. This is an intimate, hands-on and highly interactive program, limited to less than 100 participants, mixing it up with over 60 world class faculty. Exponential Medicine is described by past attendees as “a mind-opening voyage into the future, with the people who are creating it; absolutely incredible; and intellectually invigorating with practical business benefits; mind expanding, and tremendously inspiring.”

The Singularity is Near stars Ramona, played by NCIS star Pauley Perrette, a superintelligent avatar (artificial-intelligence- based, human-like virtual person) created by AI wizard Ray Kurzweil (played by himself). Ramona desperately wants to be accepted legally as a human, but faces immediate shutdown by the authorities.

So she turns to (who else?) famous civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz (played by himself) and seeks coaching by Tony Robbins (also played by himself) to discover what it means to be human.

These dramatic scenes punctuate an investigation of our amazing future by Kurzweil in dialogue with 19 “big thinkers,” who explore the impacts of the rapidly accelerating amazing technologies ahead, enriched with animations and graphics.

The movie is available exclusively through store.singularity.com via downloading, DVD, or deluxe box set (including the feature film and more than three hours of bonus material, behind-the-scenes footage, and extended interviews).

Singularity University (SU), a Silicon Valley organization located at NASA Research Park in California seeks next-generation rock-stars to join this summer’s Graduate Studies Program 2012 (GSP12).

Every summer, SU selects 80 top students from around the world to join the GSP class.

Our students comprise a diverse set of forward-thinking minds with entrepreneurial experience and a passion for solving the biggest challenges.

Apply today! Deadline to apply is March 31, 2012. GSP12 will be held from June 16 – August 26, 2012 in Mountain View, California.

If you are a female pioneer, if you are a game-changer, if you want to improve the lives of a billion people — apply to GSP12. The biggest problems of our time require diverse and global solutions. The voice of women, of female change-agents, is critical to achieve the global equitable impact desired.

This summer’s GSP12 class will receive nearly 500 hours of core lectures in topics including Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Nanotechnology, Biotech, Networks and Computing, Policy and Law, to name a few. In addition, students will attend workshops, site visits and receive cross-disciplinary understanding of the biggest ideas and issues in transformative technologies, their potential implications and opportunities over the next decade.

Moreover the GSP12 class will be challenged with “109+ Team Projects” — the highlight of the 10-week program with the goal of developing solutions with the potential to positively impact one billion people, in ten years. The SU atmosphere of innovation, ideation and intellectual exploration created by a diverse and talented student and faculty body is key to team project success.

Singularity University’s students are selected based on three criteria: (1) they are top students; (2) they are demonstrated entrepreneurs and leaders; (3) they are committed to addressing the world’s grand challenges. In 2011, students from 35 nations were selected.

Apply for your spot at Singularity University!

Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.

About the guest blogger: Susan Fonseca is a Founding Member of Singularity University (SU) and the Founder of Women@TheFrontier, an explosive forum highlighting female change-agents that are leveraging exponential technologies and innovative platforms to address global grand challenges.

She organized SU’s 2008 Founding Conference, helped source 1.5M seed funding, and negotiated a 5-year partnership with NASA. Susan is titled “Founding Architect” for her role in building the initial DNA that is SU.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1434002012-02-25T08:35:09Z2012-02-25T08:33:56ZDematerialization is one of the reasons that Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler give for the future’s being “better than you think” in their new book, Abundance. Mr. Diamandis founded the X Prizes, which handsomely reward those who reach certain far-minded goals in technology, medicine, energy and ecology.

As well as the X Prizes, Mr. Diamandis is cofounder and chairman of Singularity University, where the futurist Ray Kurzweil’s ideas of exponentially accelerating technology are explored. Despite being unusually optimistic myself about what lies ahead for humanity, I’m not yet convinced that we are about to see almost infinite rates of technological improvement — Mr. Kurzweil’s singularity — resulting, for example, in the indefinite extension of life. [...]

Defying the doomsayers: Abundance argues that growing technologies have the potential not only to spread information but to solve some of humanity’s most vexing problems.

If every image made and every word written from the earliest stirring of civilization to the year 2003 were converted to digital information, the total would come to five exabytes. An exabyte is one quintillion bytes, or one billion gigabytes — or just think of it as the number one followed by 18 zeros. That’s a lot of digital data, but it’s nothing compared with what happened from 2003 through 2010: We created five exabytes of digital information every two days.

Get ready for what’s coming: By next year, we’ll be producing five exabytes every 10 minutes. How much information is that? The total for 2010 of 912 exabytes is the equivalent of 18 times the amount of information contained in all the books ever written. The world is not just changing, and the change is not just accelerating; the rate of the acceleration of change is itself accelerating. [...]

“Diamandis and Kotler do a masterful job. Abundance is essential reading for anyone looking for a better tomorrow.” — Elon Musk

Thank you again!
— Peter Diamandis

Barnes & Noble | Providing abundance is humanity’s grandest challenge; this is a book about how we rise to meet it.

We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp.

This bold, contrarian view, backed up by exhaustive research, introduces our near-term future, where exponentially growing technologies and three other powerful forces are conspiring to better the lives of billions. An antidote to pessimism by tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler.

Since the dawn of humanity, a privileged few have lived in stark contrast to the hardscrabble majority. Conventional wisdom says this gap cannot be closed. But it is closing — fast. The authors document how four forces — exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion — are conspiring to solve our biggest problems.

Abundance establishes hard targets for change and lays out a strategic roadmap for governments, industry and entrepreneurs, giving us plenty of reason for optimism.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1394532012-01-30T20:24:40Z2012-01-30T11:22:18ZIn the forthcoming book Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, Peter H. Diamandis (chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation and cofounder and chairman of Singularity University) and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler give us an extensive tour of the latest in exponentially growing technologies and explore how four emerging forces — exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion — are conspiring to solve humanity’s biggest problems.

“This brilliant must-read book provides the key to the coming era of abundance, replacing eons of scarcity,” says Ray Kurzweil, inventor and author of The Singularity is Near.

Matt Ridley, author of the Rational Optimist, agrees: “This vital book … gives us a blinding glimpse of the innovations that are coming our way. …” Stewart Brand, editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, describes the book as “comprehensively sampl[ing] … the profound innovations going on to improve the human condition.”

The authors make a compelling case for optimism. We are introduced to dozens of innovators and industry captains making tremendous strides in healthcare, agriculture, energy, and other fields: Dean Kamen’s “Slingshot,” a technology that can transform polluted water, salt water, or even raw sewage into incredibly high-quality drinking water for less than one cent a liter; the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, which promises a low-cost, handheld medical device that allows anyone to diagnose themself better than a board-certified doctor; and Dickson Despommier’s “vertical farms,” which replace traditional agriculture with a system that uses 80 percent less land, 90 percent less water, and 100 percent fewer pesticides, with zero transportation costs.

As a bonus, the authors provide a detailed reference section filled with 90 graphs, charts, and graphics offering much of the source data underpinning their conclusions.

Special offers to KurzweilAI readers

According to Diamandis, KurzweilAI readers who place an advance order by February 13 (at http://www.abundancethebook.com) will receive four gifts worth more than $1200: access to Singularity University’s private graduate training video library (covering AI, robotics, computing systems, neuroscience, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, energy, and innovation); a $1200 gift certificate toward attendance at SU’s 7-day Executive Program at the NASA Ames Campus in 2012; free online access to view Transcendent Man, a documentary film chronicling the life and controversial ideas of Ray Kurzweil; and an invitation to a meeting with the book’s authors via webcast.

In addition, Diamandis calls on the Kurzweil community to help ignite a new conversation around the world, and in the process enter to win a $5,000 gift (either a ticket to a zero-gravity flight, http://www.gozerog.com, or a seat at the 4-day SU Executive Program, http://www.singularityu.org).

Myron McKinley, musical director for Earth, Wind & Fire discusses his long history and appreciation of Kurzweil musical instruments. Myron explains his method of alternative use of the PC3 K Series slider controls.

Ray Kurzweil and Joe Lamond, CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), on stage at the NAMM Breakfast of Champions, January 19, 2012 in Anaheim, CA. (credit: National Association of Music Merchants, David Livingston)

At the 2012 NAMM show on January 19, 2012, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) President and CEO Joe Lamond presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ray Kurzweil — best selling author, inventor and futurist in fields such as optical character recognition, text to speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments.

Lamond also presented NAMM’s Music for Life Award to Stevie Wonder, honoring him for his “brilliant musical contributions and talent that is cherished by people all over the world.”

Ray Kurzweil noted, “Stevie and I collaborated to create the first computerized musical instrument that could realistically recreate the piano and other orchestral instruments,” leading Kurzweil to found Kurzweil Music Systems in 1982.

“I have been blessed to have known two people — Ray Kurzweil and Steve Jobs,” said Wonder, and he cited the contribution of both to enriching our lives with technology.

(credit: National Association of Music Merchants)

The NAMM Show, one of the largest music products trade shows in the world, opened January 19 at the Anaheim Convention Center, welcoming an expected crowd of 90,000 musical instrument manufacturers, retailers, associates and their invited guests from all over the world to the industry’s annual gathering.

Founded in 1901, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), is the trade association for the $18 billion global music products industry.

NAMM | In this video, Ray Kurzweil, CEO, Kurzweil Technologies, sits down with NAMM CEO & President Joe Lamond to explore the process of innovation. Ray shares his remarkable perspective and ideas with the audience, and in doing so, sparks NAMM members to think how these breakthroughs can be applied to improving their businesses and relate to their future chance of success and indeed their lives. During the Breakfast of Champions, Joe Lamond presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ray.

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) honored Ray Kurzweil with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 NAMM Breakfast of Champions on January 19, 2012 in Anaheim, CA. (credit: National Association of Music Manufacturers, David Livingston)

]]>1http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1389182013-08-28T00:15:03Z2012-01-13T03:30:43ZGetaround, a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer startup, may have a more sustainable vision of the future of car-sharing.

Instead of owning, maintaining, and operating its own fleet of cars (which is how Zipcar works), Getaround owns no vehicles, which may help it avoid problems like those that plague Zipcar. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1388992012-01-13T14:17:32Z2012-01-13T03:05:47ZSingularity University startup Getaround was featured in Good magazine’s roundup “The GOOD 100,” in an interactive infographic exploring the question “What does tomorrow look like?” See the infographic here. From their magazine issue: “The Next Big Thing.”

Good | What does tomorrow look like? To assemble our second-ever GOOD 100 list (check out the first here), we surveyed culture and politics to pick out trends and seemingly minor moments that tell us where we’re all headed, together.

The big picture is pretty exciting. We’re taking action, not just sitting around. We’re going small-scale to make a big impact. We’re returning to things that worked a long time ago but haven’t worked for quite a while — the street protest, printed matter, local manufacturing — and adapting them. We’re finally taking our kindergarten teacher’s advice and learning how to share. And even though we’re kind of over the idea of material possessions, we’re more excited than ever to learn how to make stuff. We’re doing all of this simultaneously, because the world is too complex and broken and beautiful and exciting to tackle one thing at a time.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1388822012-01-13T02:20:29Z2012-01-13T02:19:38ZWhat a great place that Singularity University is. Smart, motivated people coming together to make the world a better place through technology. This past summer a group of talented students put their heads together to tackle the Global Health grand challenge. What they came up with was a hardware platform built into a t-shirt for which developers might design sensory applications.

Out of that one platform sprung a company, Senstore, which is bent on building a platform versatile enough to support hardware as diverse as apps for an operating system. I got a chance to speak with Senstore co-founders Antony Evans and Rachel Kalmar about their vision, what challenges they face in achieving it, and how their technology will impact healthcare of the future.

After building the platform at SU, Evans and Kalmar took it to Startup Weekend, an intense 54-hour workshop to develop marketable technologies, and tasked engineers with turning their hardware into a body sensor. What resulted was a device called Live Home Free that an elderly person who lives alone could wear. If they’ve fallen and they can’t get up, the device detects the abrupt change in movement/posture, and signals to their families or primary care givers that something is wrong. The team built the device in the allotted 54 hours and received top prize for the Health vertical.

But rather than simply build a better LifeCall, Live Home Free was a kind of proof-of-principle that the team hopes will lead to a hardware platform on which others can build sensors to monitor the body. Senstore was founded with the explicit goal of putting “a health sensor device on every body.” Live Home Free will be the company’s first commercially available product, but their sights are set on a device that does more than detect falls. What they want to build is a medical tricorder that monitors the entire body.

We’ve covered Scanadu’s tricorder, against which Senstore’s will go head-to-head in theQualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE. But, if Senstore’s vision is realized their tricorder promises to be much more powerful. Scanadu’s tricorder will be non-invasive, non-sampling, non-contact, and non-cooperative, meaning solutions will be reached with minimal effort for the patient. In contrast, Senstore hopes to build a tricorder that gets its hands dirty. Incorporating a lab-on-a-chip feature like the one tested in Rwanda to detect HIV and syphilis would require taking blood samples, and would obviously require patient cooperation. They would also like to measure cardiac function to detect signs of a heart attack before it strikes. Right now this requires an echocardiogram, not a feasible option for large-scale screening of the population. A DIY tricorder would be cheaper and vastly more convenient so patients could potentially check their heart every single day from home. The tricorder could also provide a more sensitive tool for detecting signs of stroke. So-called ‘silent strokes’, which occur without any outward symptoms and thus go unnoticed by the people who suffer them, affect one in four people age 65 and older. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1386892012-01-12T07:09:54Z2012-01-12T07:05:34ZE-book solution for new class of ultra responsive devices to include a robust bookstore with best sellers and rich content, delivered through the Blio e-reading application.

Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of digital and physical books today announced an agreement with Intel, the world leader in computing innovation, to provide a comprehensive e-book solution for Ultrabook devices through Intel® AppUp(SM) center.

“We are thrilled to be chosen by Intel to deliver its e-book platform, which will showcase popular and enhanced ebooks in an ultra-responsive, elegant way. Ultrabook devices are the next step in mobile computing for consumers, providing a portable, sleek device for readers to enjoy their favorite ebooks,” said Bob Nelson, president of Baker & Taylor’s Digital Group. “Through our agreement with Intel, we can deliver a versatile e-reading experience and rich, interactive digital content on a truly innovative device.”

Through its partnerships with thousands of publishers worldwide, Baker & Taylor will provide a fully merchandized bookstore that includes best-selling titles, as well as children’s books, textbooks and lifestyle books, such as travel and cookbooks, many with integrated full-color, sound effects and multimedia. This bookstore will feature the Blio e-reading application, developed by K-NFB Reading Technologies, founded by technology visionary Ray Kurzweil. Ultrabook users will have at their fingertips the content they want and the interactive features and functionality to more fully engage their e-books.

“People are increasingly looking to one device to serve their content consumption and content productivity needs, and Ultrabook devices make that possible by providing the most complete and satisfying experience,” said George Thangadurai, general manager of PC Client Services at Intel Corporation. “Baker & Taylor brings a comprehensive collection of e-books to Ultrabooks and through the Blio e-reading application, powered by Intel AppUp Center, provides a superior reading experience for visually rich content.”

Ultrabooks, inspired by Intel, are a new category of laptop computers that are ultra responsive, ultra sleek and blend high performance, smart capabilities and portability. Ultrabook devices are perfect for consumers to engage e-books, as they are equipped with superior screen resolution, high speed, large memory, and extended battery life.

Baker & Taylor and the Baker & Taylor logo are trademarks of Baker & Taylor, Inc. Blio is a trademark of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. Other company and product names mentioned for identification purposes may be trademarks of their respective owners.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1385212012-01-11T06:03:39Z2012-01-11T05:44:17ZDear SU and KurzweilAI family and friends:

I’m very pleased to announce the launch of the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize. I had a chance to announce live on stage this morning at CES, during the opening keynote. Details below. I hope we’ll have a number of SU teams and Kurzweil readers enter to compete!

— Peter

The X Prize Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation today announced the launch of the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE, a global competition to revolutionize healthcare.

In this competition, teams will leverage technology innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and wireless sensing –– much like the medical Tricorder of Star Trek® fame — to make medical diagnoses independent of a physician or healthcare provider.

The goal of the competition is to drive development of devices that will give consumers access to their state of health in the palm of their hand.

The $10 million prize purses will be awarded to the team that develops a mobile platform that most accurately diagnoses a set of 15 diseases across 30 consumers in three days. Teams must also deliver this information in a way that provides a compelling consumer experience while capturing real time, critical health metrics such as blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature.

The winning solutions will enable consumers in any location to quickly and effectively assess health conditions, determine if they need professional help and answer the question, “What do I do next?” when it comes to their health.

X Prize Foundation CEO, Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, joined the Chair of the Qualcomm Foundation and CEO of Qualcomm, Dr. Paul Jacobs, during the keynote presentation today at CES in Las Vegas to announce this exciting advancement.

The desire to provide consumers real-time data regarding their own health is of personal interest to both Drs. Diamandis and Jacobs. “There is a dire need to improve access to healthcare globally and provide consumers with an opportunity to be active participants in their own health,” said Dr. Diamandis. “The Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize will incent the creation of technologies that can empower the consumer with the ability to decide when, where and how to seek health information and care.”

]]>1http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1373222011-12-28T01:59:17Z2011-12-28T01:59:17ZBaker & Taylor, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment products, today announced its first Axis 360 installation at the award-winning King County Library System, the busiest library system in the U.S.

“We are proud to announce King County Library System as the first installation of our Axis 360 digital media library. It is an honor to have been selected by KCLS – rated the busiest library system in the U.S., and Library Journal’s Library of the Year for 2011,” said George Coe, Baker & Taylor’s President of Library & Education. “We look forward to helping King County Library System serve and delight their patrons with our cutting-edge service, and providing KCLS with comprehensive collection development programs and an integrated workflow for both print and digital materials.”

Axis 360 is a revolutionary digital media platform, providing libraries and their patrons with a state-of-the-art system for circulating enhanced digital content and Blio, the ground-breaking ereading software.

Libraries using the Axis 360 service benefit from the latest Web technologies and cloud-based delivery to mobile devices. Patrons at KCLS will enjoy the dynamic presentation of titles on the Axis 360 Magic Wall, the ease of locating books of interest via Browse by Subject pages, as well as book reviews and recommendations for further reading. Axis 360 also improves the user experience for borrowing digital content from the library. Cloud-based delivery greatly simplifies the process of downloading what patrons want to read onto the devices they prefer to use, including iOS, Android and Windows tablets and smartphones. And, ease of use for patrons means less demand on library staff resources.

Yet the value of Axis 360 to libraries goes beyond even that. While market-leading ebook technology improves patron experience, it is Baker & Taylor’s unrivaled expertise in collection development programs and services that brings tremendous benefits to librarians. Leveraging its flagship Title Source 3 selection and acquisition work tools, and a rich database of more than 7 million cataloged titles, Baker & Taylor maintains a unique position as the only supplier with the resources and expertise to provide libraries with comprehensive, evidence-based collection development services that effectively combine print anddigital materials selection and fulfillment into a single, streamlined workflow.

“Axis 360 has been long anticipated by our library system,” said Bill Ptacek, KCLS Director. “We look forward to this content filling the gap in our move to provide comprehensive digital resources to our patrons. Our patrons are clamoring for more and more in ebooks, delivered in a simple and convenient manner. Axis 360 is a big step in that direction.”

“We’re particularly impressed with the interactive content and color reproduction Blio provides, such as in children’s picture books and nonfiction for all ages, which is unavailable in the EPUB format,” said Alene Moroni, KCLS’s Selection and Order manager. “We considered other available and upcoming platforms, and were impressed with the Axis 360 platform and its device neutrality. Technology changes too quickly for any individual or institution to keep up step by step. We needed a source that will manage the changes and maintain accessibility. With Baker & Taylor’s strong presence in the market, Axis 360 is an attractive and viable option for aggressive growth now and in future. We look forward to expanding our collection in all areas as more content becomes available.”

The Washington state-based KCLS combines extensive services for a large population with excellent quality and care.

In 2010, a record-breaking 22.4 million items were checked out from KCLS, and the system received more than 10 million visits from patrons. KCLS, which serves a population of 1.2 million, has seen its demands grow during the economic downturn. Many patrons are coming into the library for the first time, eager to learn about new technology and the latest library offerings.

Baker & Taylor and the Baker & Taylor logo are trademarks of Baker & Taylor, Inc. Blio is a trademark of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. Other company and product names mentioned for identification purposes may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About King CountyLibrary System

KCLS (www.kcls.org) is a large system: 46 libraries serving more than 1.3 million residents and 18 school districts over a 2,131 square mile area of cities, towns, farms, and forests. Administrative efficiencies have a broad impact, and patrons expect their libraries to provide quality service, comfortable and welcoming facilities, responsible environmental practices, and responsible stewardship of public assets. In 2010, KCLS libraries were busier than ever. Patrons checked out nearly 22.4 million items, a 5% increase over the 2009 record. Staff issued more than 100,000 new library cards. Web traffic reached 31 million visits; program attendance hit 77,000, and 10.2 million visitors came through the libraries’ doors.

Here are some new videos with Jon Carin, keyboardist for Roger Waters, currently on tour with Roger Waters: The Wall Live, using Kurzweil keyboards exclusively.

The first clip features John Teele (software department manager) and me (senior soundware engineer) on stage about 20 minutes before the show started. The next two clips are interviews with Jon Carin. I thought our readers might enjoy these!

— Dave Weiser, Senior Soundware Engineer, Kurzweil Music Systems

about Dave Weiser

Dave Weiser is the senior soundware engineer and marketing liaison for Kurzweil Music. He is the lead sound designer and also represents Kurzweil Music online.

Weiser interfaces between the Kurzweil engineers and the “outside world” — sales, international distributors, customers and high profile artists.

The quality of Kurzweil Music synthesizers has attracted many famous musicians over the years, and Dave has enjoyed working directly with David Bowie, Roger Waters, Brian Wilson, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Heart, Bernie Worrell (Parliament/Funkadelic), and many others.

video | John Teele and Dave Weiser on stage 20 minutes before the Roger Waters: The Wall Live show at Boston Garden

video | a message from David Carin

Wikipedia | Jon Carin (born October 21, 1964, in New York City, New York) is a producer, artist and musician best known for his association with Pink Floyd, and more specifically its guitarist David Gilmour and former member Roger Waters over the last 25 years. In the early eighties, he gained fame as the frontman for the band Industry.

Wikipedia | The Wall is the 11th studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd — The Wall.

As with the band’s previous 3 studio albums The Wall is a concept album, and deals largely with themes of abandonment and personal isolation. It was first conceived during the band’s 1977 In the Flesh Tour, when bassist and lyricist Roger Waters’ frustration with the spectators’ perceived boorishness became so acute that he imagined building a wall between the performers and audience.

The album is a rock opera that centres on Pink, a character based on Waters or maybe Syd Barrett. Pink’s life experiences contribute to his eventual self-imposed isolation from society, represented by a metaphorical wall.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1360312011-12-11T01:03:41Z2011-12-11T01:02:27ZBaker & Taylor announced today that it had signed a new deal with one of the largest book wholesalers in the UK.

Gardner Books, working on behalf of nearly a thousand British eBook publishers, has agreed to supply its current catalog to Baker & Taylor so it can be distributed by the 8th most popular eBook platform, Blio. “Blio is an exciting development in the fast moving world of digital publishing and Gardners Books is delighted to bring this new software to publishers in the UK.

The association with Baker & Taylor will create a unique opportunity for publishers in the UK & US to benefit from the extensive sales and marketing reach available in both markets,” said Bob Jackson, Commercial Director of Gardners Books.

Blio offers an adequate reading experience for both narrative and illustrated titles. This platform, which was voted most delayed reading platform of 2010, is currently available for PC, iOS, and Android. If you would like to see a demo, Baker & Taylor and Gardners Books will be exhibiting at the Frankfurt International Book Fair this week. [...]

The Grandparents.com Bookstore is open for business, with discounts and promotions for its customers that are competitive with online book merchants Amazon™ and Barnes and Noble™.

The Bookstore, operated in association with Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of print and digital books, carries over 1 million books, DVDs and CDs, and offers visitors to the Bookstore a free, downloadable eReading application, Blio, which offers hundreds of thousands of titles including today’s best sellers. For Grandparents.com Benefit Club members, the Bookstore has free shipping on orders over $25.

Screenshot of the new Grandparents.com Bookstore. (credit: Grandparents.com LLC)

“The grandparents who make up the target audience for our Bookstore represent one-quarter of all Americans,” explains Jennifer Fragale, Grandparents.com’s Director of Social Networking and its Benefits Club. “Grandparents are avid readers and we want them to save on books, movies and music. The Bookstore is a wonderful addition to our Benefits Club, where we provide our 400,000-plus members dependable discounts, prizes and giveaways on thousands of products and services.

Since launching the Club earlier this year, we have added more than 200 marketing partners who offer our members discounts on jewelry, gifts, toys, apparel, show tickets, theme parks, spas, wellness programs, hotels, car rentals, Grandparents Insurance Plans ™, and more — and now we have deals on books, DVDs and CDs. Unlike daily deal companies like Groupon™ or Living Social™, our offers remain available for months and years.”

“We are very focused on helping grandparents take advantage of the growth of e-books. The book industry metamorphosis, led by tablets and smartphones, has been dramatic,” says Gary Drevitch, Editor-In-Chief of Grandparents.com. “Our members are computer-savvy, and 40% of them visit Facebook™ daily. We favor the Blio platform because it allows grandparents to store their e-books in a private, virtual library accessible from their PCs and personal devices without having to buy a separate e-reader, such as a Kindle™ or a Nook™.

“Blio instead lets readers transform all of their internet-accessible computers, tablets and smartphones, including iPads™ and iPhones™, into e-readers. Blio offers today’s bestsellers as well as interactive rich-media, video, slide show, and audio-enhanced content from more than 100 top publishers, including Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster. Blio is a phenomenal product our users will adore.”

Blio has a host of functions that make it smart, fun and easy to use. It allows readers to experience books with brilliant color and crystal clear sound, bringing cookbooks, travel guides, how-to manuals, textbooks, and children’s books to life. With the ability to faithfully reproduce books’ color, layout and fonts, Blio is able to provide a large selection of books not available on E Ink devices. Blio supports touch interaction and will read selected books aloud, highlighting each word using the most advanced text-to-speech technology. Blio also allows you to insert notes, highlight sections or phrases, and look up references online, and it has multiple reading views, including text-only mode, single-page, dual-page, tiled pages, or 3-D “book view” for realistic page turning.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1358752011-12-10T02:06:05Z2011-12-10T02:06:05ZA new update of K-NFB’s Blio for iOS [app store link], which uses our libEucalyptus, was released today. If you’re not aware of Blio, I wrote a bit about it when the iOS app first came out a few months ago. There are lots of great little additions in the update — both utilizing updates by us in libEucalyptus, and otherwise in the app itself. I’m really enjoying reading with it on my iPad. [...]
]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1358632011-12-12T06:45:36Z2011-12-10T01:55:48ZLast week I interviewed Michael Bills, Director for Sales, Digital Products, from Baker & Taylor about their e-reader software, Blio. Michael discussed the functionality of Blio and discussed Axis 360, a hosting and circulation platform for the Blio reader. For more information on blio, visit: http://www.baker-taylor.com/blio.cfm

Michael’s interview, along with 40+ others are available on the NSR interviews page. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1311372013-05-02T06:38:08Z2011-10-13T00:32:13ZRay Kurzweil, radical futurist and prophet of innovation, holds up a smartphone. “This device is a billion times more valuable per constant dollar than the computer I used as a student at MIT in the late ’60s,” he says. “In 25 years, it will be the size of a blood cell. And it will be a billion times more powerful.”

The famously far-thinking inventor and author — critics would say too-far thinking — is addressing 37 executives from around the world who have assembled at the NASA Ames campus in Mountain View, California. Teleconferencing from Boston on October 2, 2011, Kurzweil appears onscreen like Oz the Great and Powerful in high def. His urgent message: Technology progresses at an exponential rate. Humans, having evolved to hunt game and avoid predators, are designed to think linearly. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1255492011-08-07T02:21:05Z2011-08-07T02:17:16ZOne of the most controversial documentaries of our time has been available for digital download for several months now, yet many in the mainstream are still unacquainted with the ideas, concepts, opportunities and challenges presented by the coming Technological Singularity.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be too surprising, many of us live in the mundane, harsh reality of the now. Day to day life, war, debt, unemployment, death and taxes are difficult enough to grapple with without taking time out to contemplate the vast implications of a Technological Singularity predicted to emerge sometime between 2029 to 2050. Such a thing to the average man or woman can seem so distant, it may as well be ten thousand years away.

Despite the fact that many of the emergent technologies related to the Singularity hold the prospect to solve or (at the very least) reduce the severity of many of the major world problems we face; public interest in one of the most transformative ideas of our time remains lackluster. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1242922011-07-19T21:44:23Z2011-07-19T21:31:45ZThe future is coming to the 49 out of 50 of the United States (sorry, Wyoming). On August 3rd, Transcendent Man: A Conversation About the Future will be appearing in 500+ theaters across the country.

This LIVE broadcast panel discussion will focus on accelerating technologies, the future of humanity, and the Singularity. The star-studded panel includes powerhouses like futurist Michio Kaku, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, inventor Dean Kamen and many more. Barry Ptolemy, director of the Transcendent Man documentary will be on hand, as will the subject of that film, Ray Kurzweil.

There’s also a long list of “special guest appearances” including Bill Maher, Suzanne Somers, Al Gore, Quincy Jones, and Elon Musk. In other words, this is going to be a massive event, and a great debate on what the future should and will hold. Check the listings on Fathom Events for tickets in your area and watch the trailer for the August 3rd nationwide screening below. Transcendent Man has been gathering momentum since its premiere more than two years ago. Could this event propel the film, and the concept of the Singularity, into the mainstream? [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1241532011-07-18T04:44:44Z2011-07-18T04:34:13Z
]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1358812011-12-10T03:19:30Z2011-07-15T01:21:41ZRecently I (Jamie) — through Things Made Out Of Other Things — have been working very closely with the folks at K-NFB Reading Technology on bringing their e-book reading platform, Blio, to iOS.

I’m delighted to be able to say that the Blio app is now available, for free, in the App Store. It runs on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (iOS 3.2 or above), and I think it’s great.

The reading interface is based on a greatly enhanced version of Eucalyptus’ book display “engine” I call libEucalyptus. I’m really excited that it’s now available. Just like Eucalyptus, I think libEucalyptus, and Blio that’s built on it, has the easiest to use, easiest to read interface or any book app. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1239072011-12-10T03:25:59Z2011-07-14T09:09:42ZBaker & Taylor and K-NFB Reading Technology make Blio’s full-color and interactive digital media content available for use on Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod

K-NFB Reading Technology today announced that Blio, a leading interactive, engaging, and flexible ereading software application, will be available for download from Apple’s App Store onto the iPad, iPhone, and iPod beginning July 12.

Readers who already have a Blio account can now read all their books on their iPad, iPhones or iPods by downloading the app from the Apple App Store and entering their Blio account information.

Books which have been previously purchased at any Blio-enabled retail storefront will be automatically available in the users’ Blio library on their Apple device. Blio, launched previously for the Windows operating system, is preloaded on millions of tablets, netbooks, laptops, and mobile devices and can be downloaded for free at www.blio.com.

Through its partnership with Baker & Taylor, the world’s largest distributor of print and digital books, Blio brings to life content categories that cannot thrive on e-ink platforms, including children’s books, lifestyle books such as travel and cookbooks, and textbooks among others.

“Making Blio available on these Apple devices was a promise to readers that we are excited to keep, and we will continue to work with mobile carriers and device manufacturers to offer the best reading experience to as many people as possible. The flexibility and choice to read on multiple devices, coupled with ease of use, are important to us and we are excited to see how Blio continues to transform the way readers engage with books,” said Bob Nelson, President of Baker & Taylor’s Digital Group.

Blio incorporates a book’s full-color printed layout, allowing digital books to stay true to their original format, while creating a vibrant, personal experience for readers. Enhanced books with professional Read Along functionality allow users to engage with their content like never before. Blio also enables readers to insert page notes, highlight, and browse the web from inside their books.

“Blio brings books to life by offering the most engaging, flexible and interactive reading experience you can find enabling readers to engage with their passions in a whole new way. And, it allows readers to take their libraries with them wherever they go. Now they can carry Blio across their devices, from desktops and laptops to smartphone and tablets, for a seamless experience,” said Ray Kurzweil, world-renowned inventor and founder of K-NFB Reading Technology.

Due to Apple’s new policy regarding purchasing products within an app downloaded from the App Store, the app does not provide a link to the Blio store. iPad, iPhone and iPod users can use their devices to purchase books by visiting http://mobile.blioreader.com.

Follow Blio and Baker & Taylor on Twitter at @Blioreader and @BakerandTaylor.

About K-NFB Reading Technology Inc.

A joint venture between Kurzweil Technology and the National Federation of the Blind, K-NFB Reading Technology Inc. has propelled reading technology forward for the last 30 years through the invention of omnifont OCR, flatbed scanners, text-to-speech technology and reading machines for the blind. K-NFB once again is redefining the boundaries of the printed word through Blio, which promises to set the standard for digital reading. This free application works across platforms and presents books as they were intended – in full color and as laid out by the publisher. K-NFB is headed by CEO Ray Kurzweil, a 30-year innovator and pioneer in assistive technologies. The National Federation of the Blind is the largest, most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.

Baker & Taylor and the Baker & Taylor logo are trademarks of Baker & Taylor Inc. Blio is a trademark of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. Other company and product names mentioned for identification purposes may be trademarks of their respective owners.

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1238142011-07-19T21:46:22Z2011-07-14T06:15:21ZTranscendent Man: A Conversation about the Future with Ray Kurzweil, produced by NCM Fathom, Ptolemaic Productions, and Therapy Studios, will be simulcast to select movie theaters nationwide from Lincoln Center in New York City on August 3rd, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, and 8:00 p.m. Pacific (tape-delayed).

Based on the critically acclaimed film documentary Transcendent Man — which explores the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil — the live event will feature exclusive, extended excerpts from the film and a celebrity discussion panel.

Ray Kurzweil will give a special presentation on accelerating technology and its impact on civilization, followed by an all-star panel discussing the future of humanity, the merger of man and machine, and the imminent end of aging and disease, ushering in an era of extreme longevity and human potential.

“Ray Kurzweil’s theory that human life will be interconnected with machines and computers within the next several decades is fascinating people worldwide,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom. “This special live event will give audiences a chance to hear directly from the celebrated inventor and a world renowned panel about the theory of immortality and the progress being made in that regard right now.”

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1234722011-10-27T02:41:02Z2011-07-08T05:17:07ZConsider Transcendent Man, the recent documentary about inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. The film is based on his 2005 book The Singularity is Near and builds on his past 20 years of accurate predictions of technological growth. This is the reality we forget: technology is constantly getting twice as powerful, half as expensive, and much smaller.

And the speed of this doubling is accelerating. (Kurzweil has pretty startling predictions about how powerful computers will be by 2020, 2029 and 2050.) By anticipating the future technology we can position ourselves to dominate its use once it’s widely adopted. Through Kurzweil we can see that the merging of TV with the internet is likely to happen much sooner (certainly within the decade) than most realize. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1213822011-07-06T00:08:58Z2011-06-16T17:48:52ZRay Kurzweil will appear on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, June 16 and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, June 17 to promote the critically acclaimed documentary film Transcendent Man. Check network links for local show times.

Transcendent Man, by director Barry Ptolemy, focuses on the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil. The film is available on DVD in stores nationwide (Best Buy and Barnes & Noble); for order at Amazon.com, WalMart.com, BestBuy.com, and BarnesandNoble.com; and on Netflix (DVD and “Watch Instantly”).

The DVD includes more than two hours of exclusive additional footage, with deleted scenes, extra interviews, and the Q&A with Kurzweil and Ptolemy after the film’s world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Transcendent Man is also available for downloading on iTunes and Movies On Demand (both without the extra two hours).

I’d like to request your support for an endeavor that will benefit the lives of over one billion people within 10 years.

As you may know, I’m the co-founder and chancellor of Singularity University (SU), now in its third successful year. Each year, SU assembles an international class of the brightest graduate students — top achievers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds — to participate in our unique Singularity studies program.

Over the course of our curriculum, students learn about the game-changing technological and scientific breakthroughs that are shaping society, and that will dramatically alter humanity’s future. Armed with new tools for tracking, analyzing, engaging, and innovating in this space, our graduates emerge from the program as future leaders. Their applied knowledge will impact world affairs and economies, research and development, foundational sciences, entrepreneurism, the media and culture — broadly steering the coming era of ever-accelerating growth. SU challenges students to exploit innovation to solve humanity’s grand challenges.

The students and faculty of the inaugural Singularity University summer graduate studies program in 2009. (credit: Dave Lauridsen)

Our students exhibit incredible dedication. Traveling from over 30 countries, they come together at our Silicon Valley campus for one purpose — to leverage exponentially advancing technologies to improve the lives of over 1 billion people worldwide.

Recruited from among 2,000 applicants for their academic achievements, leadership skills, and spirited humanitarianism — 80 selected students will soon convene for our 10-week summer program to innovate solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges: poverty, energy, security, education, space, and global health.

These organizations cover the baseline operating costs. But we need your help to raise scholarships for these top students to attend our Graduate Studies Program. Please consider donating to help us assemble this amazing group from around the world. For those who contribute $100 or more, you’ll be given a chance to win a free Executive Program ($7,500 value) at the SU campus in Silicon Valley.

Help us get this next generation of leaders to SU, so that they can launch the breakthrough businesses, innovations, and interdisciplinary understanding that will address the world’s grand challenges.

With my sincerest thanks,Ray Kurzweil

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1195832011-05-25T20:49:49Z2011-05-24T23:48:10ZHey folks, Harry here with a new DVD column and things are a bit different this week with some of the titles, and I’m betting that will at least continue with next week’s amazing series of titles. I think you’ll enjoy some of the surprises this week.

Ray Kurzweil is an interesting as hell fella. Imagine a practical William Gibson or Phillip K Dick. Now, he’s technically not a science fiction author… except that he kind of is. He predicts technology. Anticipates it. He’s one of the foremost futurists around, and has worked with countries around the globe, Presidents, Corporate minds. He pushes the people that create technology to create new technologies. And he’s been a leader in the field for about 40 or more years. And he believes that huge changes are coming in the next 15-20 years. Look at your cellphone. Think about what it does, now just think back 3 years ago. [...]

]]>0http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1194232011-06-15T00:18:26Z2011-05-24T08:34:04ZTranscendent Man, the film about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil by director Barry Ptolemy, is available today (May 24, 2011) on DVD in stores nationwide (Best Buy and Barnes and Noble), according to Ptolemaic Productions.

The DVD includes more than two hours of exclusive additional footage, with deleted scenes, extra interviews, and the Q&A with Ray Kurzweil and director Barry Ptolemy after the world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Transcendent Man is also available for downloading on iTunes and Movies On Demand (both without the extra two hours).

In Transcendent Man, Ptolemy follows Kurzweil around the globe as he presents the daring arguments from his bestselling book, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Kurzweil predicts that with the ever-accelerating rate of technological change, humanity is fast approaching an era in which our intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and millions of times more powerful. This will be the dawning of a new civilization, enabling us to transcend our biological limitations, says Kurzweil.

Since its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Transcendent Man has drawn critical acclaim. During its worldwide festival tour, the film screened to sold-out audiences at Tribeca in New York, the American Film Institute Festival (AFI Fest) in Los Angeles, and the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam. It was also screened in theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, New York, London, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

The film was lauded as “one of the top ten documentaries of the year” by the International Documentary Association (IDA).

]]>1http://www.kurzweilai.net/?p=1194532011-05-24T22:18:28Z2011-05-24T02:55:00ZWhen will computers attain consciousness and surpass humans? Genius inventor Ray Kurzweil calls this event the Singularity, and he pinpoints it at 2029. In this startling 2009 biodoc, he shares his theories about technology’s exponential acceleration.

Critics call him a crackpot, while he calmly makes his predictions based on past events. Don’t be scared, he urges, just be ready to become bionic or risk being left behind. [...]

Transcendent Man is a documentary about innovations and revolutionary ideas based on Ray Kurzweil’s bestseller called The Singularity is Near. The movie is about the life, career and ideas of Kurzweil, who is well-known in America for being an inventor and futurologist. He invented many speech recognition systems. Kurzweil is known to have his own vision of future technologies. [...]